COURSE: Nonverbal communication

1. COURSE: Nonverbal communication Presenter: Mr. Samende GS

2. 1. FACTORS THAT AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR the environmental structures and conditions the communicator’s physical characteristics the behaviours of the communicators Environmental structures and conditions the environment has effect on our moods, choice of words, and actions environmental factors can affect nonverbal communication factors in the environment which affect nonverbal communication include furniture in the room, architecture, noise, music interior decorating, lightning conditions, colours, temperature etc.

3. The environmental structures and conditions(Cont...) differences in the arrangements, materials, shapes and surfaces of objects affect interpersonal relationships traces of actions such as littering, cigarette butts, orange peels, or scraps of paper left behind may form an impression that may influence your perception of a person spatial environment is the study of social and personal space people use and respond to spatial relationships in formal and informal settings spatial arrangement and seating arrangement facilitate the flow of messages and task completion territoriality is the behaviour of claiming a personal territory, which one considers as his/her own may also affect nonverbal communication

4. The communicator’s physical characteristics This refers to the physical characteristics of a person that do not change during the communication process These nonverbal cues may include; body shape, general attractiveness, hair, height and weight, skin colour, body odours and breath odours Other objects of a person such as clothes, glasses jewellery, scars, tattoos and make up affect our appearance and the flow of communication

5. The behaviours of the communicators may include body movement and position such as; gestures, movement of limbs (arms and legs), facial expressions(smile, eye behaviour (blinking, direction, pupil dilation and length of gaze) and body posture Gestures Types of gestures speech independent gestures speech dependent gestures

6. The communicator’s behaviours (cont…) Speech independent gestures Speech independent gestures are not accompanied by speech e.g. Thumbs upward to signal OK, the V shape formed by the index finger and middle finger signaling victory in some cultures Thumbs up sign V shape sign

7. The communicator’s behaviours (cont…) Speech dependent gestures they accompany speech and illustrate what is being said. may emphasize a word, point to objects, depict the rhythm of an event they may show how a person feels, signal attention, involvement, status or liking Attention & involvement

8. The communicator’s behaviours (cont…) Touching behaviour terson may touch him/herself in a way that reflect nervous mannerism or touches others e.g. a pat on shoulder or other forms of touch during conversation such a touch may excite, irritate or comforting depending on the nature of relationship and how it is done. Touching other

9. The communicator’s behaviours (cont…) Facial expressions display various emotional states such as; anger, sadness, happiness, surprise, fear, and disgust, for example, human show fear by opening eyes wide (Chawla, Chen & Kraus 1991) they are used to regulate conversation, provide feedback and manage the flow of communication during conversation they may give feedback during conversations Sign of disgust

10. The communicator’s behaviours (cont…) Eye behaviour refers to where you look, when we look and how long you look. it shows interest, attention and involvement gaze refers to eye movement in the direction of another’s face avoiding eye contact may be seen as a sign of hostility or deviance. in some culture avoiding eye contact is seen as a sign of respect Body posture posture may tell the observer how a person feels postures are used to signal attention, involvement, status and degree of liking forward leaning posture shows higher involvement, liking, more interest

11. The communicator’s behaviours (cont…) backward leaning posture shows that a person is not interested drooping posture shows sadness or fatigue rigid, tense posture shows anger Sign of anger

12. The communicator’s behaviours (cont…) Vocal behaviour it refers to how something is said focus on nonverbal cues produced during common speech behaviour

13. 2. INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE ON NONVERBAL HUMAN BEHAVIOUR nature refers to qualities a person born with (inborn) not taught nurture refers to qualities a person learns after birth or taught Nature and human nonverbal behaviour person born with the ability to express these qualities responses a person is born with , that happens soon after birth, for example, smiling, crying, laughing, surprise, anger/fear and winking of eye blush nonverbal behaviour that cannot be learned they are passed on from one generation to another through genes

14. THE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE ON NONVERBAL HUMAN BEHAVIOUR (Cont…) Nurture and human nonverbal behaviour these qualities are taught by society. For example, table manner (how one behaves when eating at table), dress code, hand signals (using hands to send a message) learned nonverbal signals such as turn taking and complex body language are learned wrinkle nose show disgust learned nonverbal cue desired behaviour can be nurtured these qualities are continuously reinforced by society through positive feedback and warning

15. THE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE ON NONVERBAL HUMAN BEHAVIOUR (Cont…) genetic heritage could be easily influenced or shaped by external stimuli human behaviour influenced by both nature and nurture Three primary sources of nonverbal communication inherited neurological programmes experience common to all members of the species experience that varies with culture, class and the individual Inherited neurological programmes its biological and concern with the nervous system biological and cultural forces/factors may overlap

16. THE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE ON NONVERBAL HUMAN BEHAVIOUR (Cont…) cultural factors can also be used to communicate messages, for example, breathing can be a sigh of relief or grief neurological programme for facial expressions specific to a culture, for example, men are not allowed to cry Experience common to all members of the species refers to activities that all members of the same species can do and not influenced by culture, for example, all humans use hands to eat facial expression inherited and common to all human beings cultural learning important in facial expression of emotions showing emotions is natural people can sense when someone is bored, relieved, or sad

17. THE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE ON NONVERBAL HUMAN BEHAVIOUR (Cont…) Experience that varies with culture, class and the individual cultural training includes behaviour people display when reacting to someone or something for example when a person sees a snake, this can evoke an expression of fear in a person from one culture, or expression of joy in another culture especially, if snakes are a food source to them. sight of a mole may be seen as a taboo in some culture and evoke fear in a person, while in other cultures a mole is an important source of food and evokes feeling joy in them inherited human behaviour can be modified through learning

18. THE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE ON NONVERBAL HUMAN BEHAVIOUR (Cont…) people born with ability to learn language culture and training influence language learning if children are isolated from human contact, they do not develop linguistic competence humans do not all speak at the same level of competence we have good and worse speakers some people have wider range of vocabulary than others. hand gestures (greetings, thumbs up) are culture specific and they are learned (nurture) pattern of eye gaze can be partly genetic, but can also be learned

19. 3 FACTORS AFFECTING THE ABILITY TO DECODE NONVERBAL CUES people posses the ability to judge nonverbal cues in other people these personal factors include: gender, age, general cognitive ability and other personal correlates Gender women judge nonverbal cues better than men especially facial cues and emotions women are more sensitive to interpersonal relationship

20. FACTORS AFFECTING THE ABILITY TO DECODE NONVERBAL CUES (continues…) man are better at judging signs of anger in other man both men and women judge signs of lies, status and dominance well. Age a few months old babies can differentiate among facial and vocal expressions of emotions decoding ability slowly increases with age however, as a person gets older, decoding ability decreases with age from the age of about 60 decoding skills decreases

21. FACTORS AFFECTING THE ABILITY TO DECODE NONVERBAL CUES (continues…) General cognitive ability intelligence is measured using intelligence quotient test commonly known as IQ test cognitive ability and nonverbal sensitivity are closely related as children who score higher in nonverbal decoding tests also score higher in academic achievement Other personal correlates adults who perform better on test of decoding nonverbal cues are usually better adjusted, they are less hostile, less manipulating, more democratic, encouraging, tolerant and helpful,

22. FACTORS AFFECTING THE ABILITY TO DECODE NONVERBAL CUES (continues…) they are open to experience and extroverted. they are more socially inclusive (“no one should feel left out”), less shy and anxious, they believe they are in control of situations they are more warm, empathic, popular and able to judge others’ interpersonal sensitivity they perform better in the work place they have more satisfying personal relationships children who score higher on tests of decoding nonverbal signs are more popular and socially competent, less anxious and aggressive and less depressed

23. FACTORS AFFECTING THE ABILITY TO DECODE NONVERBAL CUES (continues…) they feel they are in control of themselves they have higher self-esteem and score higher on academic achievement people who score lower on tests of decoding nonverbal signs may have suffered psychological damaging experiences such as parental violence early in life metal patients score lower than people without mental problems excessive use of alcohol may also impair nonverbal decoding accuracy

24. 4. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR Structure and design of a building and its influence on nonverbal behaviour structure and design of house affect nonverbal behaviour this may include fixed feature space and semi-fixed feature space fixed feature space refers to space organised by unmoving boundaries in a building such as the arrangement of rooms in a house arrangement of rooms in the hostels, rooms arranged next to each other and doors facing each other along corridor, encourage student interaction but less privacy easier to reinforce rules by management

25. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) structure of commercial banks communicate wealth attractive classroom encourage student learning and achievement fixed feature space refers to space organised by unmoving boundaries in a room or house semi-fixed feature space refers to the arrangement of moving objects in a building such as tables and chairs in a house both fixed and semi-fixed feature space can affect human communication structure and design of house improve the flow of information from supervisor to employees people in higher positions usually have more office space and privacy their offices are located on the upper floors of buildings

26. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) height and space may show power and status lower ranking employees often seat in large rooms divided into cubicles with only a table and chair in each cubicle this arrangement facilitate communication/ more communication among employees , but no employee privacy In bars, seats face in one direction and this discourage communication among strangers in some fast food restaurants seating close together around tables encourage communication between customers at university where classrooms are far away from each other encourage both students and lecturer interaction as they walk from one building or class to another

27. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) Movable objects and their influence on nonverbal behaviour the linear arrangement of chairs in church encourage listening or one-way communication the arrangement of chairs in the bank encourage two-way communication to discuss financial matters and other related inquiries arrangement of furniture in the lecture hall encourage participation in lesson and not suitable for group work arrangement of furniture in food outlets such as KFC and Hungry Lion may encourage conversation arrangement of objects in the room may inhibit or encourage communication

28. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) employees personalised their offices by adding some personal items like family photos to their offices to make them feel more at home objects arranged in certain way to show roles between people they may be used to indicate boundaries or to increase communication, for examples, the absence of tables in group facilitation encourage dialogue and open communication among participants the presence of desk or table may also indicate seniority, for example, the office of CEO may have large desk, expensive sofas, heavy curtains which may indicate success and authority

29. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) object can be arranged to discourage communication, for example, the linear arrangement of tables in examination rooms arrangement of objects may also discourage the feeling of comfort among people the position of a desk plays crucial roles in communication class room arrangement also affect student-teacher relationship teacher perceived as less friendly when sitting behind his desk or standing behind the podium

30. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) materials used to make seats may also discourage communication, for example, metal benches at most municipal bus stops in fast food restaurant seats have backward angle to enable users to lean back and relax for the users to feel more comfortable Sound and its influence on nonverbal behaviour too much sound not good for most people and discourage customer to stay longer low sound may attract customer and encourage them to stay longer this may increased profit as customers buy more restaurants and cinemas use sound absorbing surfaces to reduce sound thereby encourage clients to stay longer and buy more

31. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) sound and intensity of sound may affect human behaviour people react to sounds and sound levels in different ways music may have both positive and negative effects on people’s moods behaviour of consumer can be affected by music the absence or presence of music such as classical music can change consumer behaviours in a restaurant differently diners who eat and listen to classic music stayed longer and spent more money on food playing music relevant to particular group of people encourage them to stay longer and spent more money

32. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) different types of music are more suitable for different environs effective music should meet the perceptions and expectations of the environment higher noise level leads to deceases employee performance influence of music on human communication depend on the type of music, the volume, duration and familiarity with such music Lightning and its influence on nonverbal behaviour lightning may influence communication in a dimly-lit room people talk more softly, sit closer together and feel more relaxed

33. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) sudden brightening of a dimly-lit room illicit less intimacy activities bright light discourage customers while dim lights in night clubs encourage customers to stay flashing lights in a night club towards closing time indicates to the clients that they should be ready to leave the absence of sun or lights during winter may creates problems for people with Seasonal Affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a form depression SAD can be treated by exposing patients to extreme bright lights for some hours in the morning

34. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) restaurants and clubs use dim lightning to encourage customers to stay longer and to encourage intimacy, attract customers and get more money Colour and its influence on nonverbal behaviour colour may affect human communication the colour pink may suppress violent and aggressive behaviour different people have different colours and buy their clothes furniture and cars in those colours wearing certain colours may affect mood, feelings and they way we communicate the pink, blue and green are associated with soothing and calming effects

35. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) red and purple associated with aggression the colour red may symbolises danger, love (valentine day), warmth, strength or safety red colour associated with love and happiness, for example, people wear red on Valentine’s Day as a symbol of love pastel colour (pale) more soothing bright colours attract more attention colour associated with vitality, for example, red sport attire encourage wining sporting competition (Namibian soccer team in red attire won COSAFA cup)

36. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) colours influence learning, the colour purple is associated with wisdom and victory research have shown that children who thought they were in nice room (blue, yellow, green and orange) showed more alertness and creative than those in an ugly room (white, black, brown) those children in an orange room smiled more and were friendly and hostility and irritability decreased among these children the colour of product help customer remember the product for example, a person may forget the name of product but remember the colour of the product or how the product looks like

37. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF A BUILDING, MOVABLE OBJECTS, SOUND, LIGHTNING AND COLOUR AFFECT NONVERBAL BEHAVIOUR (Cont...) black colour is associated with sadness, anxiety, fear, unhappiness and death, for example, in some society a woman whose has just died is required to wear black clothes for a certain period of time white colour associated with joy, humility and innocence, for example, white garments prefers at most wedding celebration to show joy different cultures assign different symbolic meanings to colour, for example, yellow is associated with age in China, Prostitution in Italy and famine in Egypt.

38. REFERENCEHunter, J. (2014). Nonverbal Communication: Study Guide. Windhoek, Polytechnic of Namibia: Centre for External Studies.Chawla, p., Chen, Y. & kraus, R. (1991). Nonverbal behavior and nonverbal communication: What do conversational hang gestures tell us? San Diego, CA: Colombia University Academic Press